Joey's Creation | Dec 2015 | Lunch bag, Rudy and Ifrit

I feel that this post should be post different in another category as my last post was long enough with other things. And I am making this as a "hobby update"! For now, I'll just name is Joey's Creation but the tags are here and there. As of right now, my artsy fartsy interest does not only include crochet, but others as well.... So yeah, sticking to this name until further notice. 

But this post only have crochet creations. :P

I feel like I am uploading my work everywhere. LOL. I don't know if I should keep uploading my work to deviantart or not. As of now, I keep track of my projects in Ravelry, my blog, DeviantArt, and also if my handmade stuff is up for sale, I'll need to upload to Etsy as well. 

That's already 3-4 social website. Hmmm...

Moving on.

Made two sales this month. Thanks friends! You know who you are! Thanks for supporting my work!

13-Dec-15 | Team building, Marcus & Sue's Wed, Christmas lights, Star Wars at VivoCity

It's been quite awhile since I last created a new post! Well, after my training, I was so busy. I guess that is the price I need to pay. It's no joke, it's so fast-paced. I was always the one who got out of office on the dot, but now, I am starting to take the taxi back after 8.30pm (only for a few days so far). Now, I feel it. Work rush. Especially when I read e-mails that has the word "ASAP" and "immediately", hohmygawdstress.


Team-building day

Anyway, last Friday was our team-building day. I have had this post in my draft for a few weeks now, time is such a confusing thing.

Okay, back to team building. It's a day where I get to know more about my team. Not everyone, but it did help me talk to more people working on the same floor and department as me. Now... to remember their names. LOL.

Lol, Khayae is so funny in this picture. Hahaha!

Perfection in imperfections

*Suddenly, a strong desire possessed Joey to write down this inspiring piece* 

Okay, nein. 

I've had this nagging feeling to try to explain everyone this one thing. For those of you who do not really know me, maybe you are a junior of mine, my ex-course mates or someone who I am acquainted to for awhile. 

I am not perfect. 

Whatever image you might have for me, it might just be a big faux idea that you have fixated upon me. You know that feeling when you are receiving compliments but in actuality, you don't even know what the hell you are really doing most of the time. But you still say "thank you", smile and feel good about yourself later on. 

Well, that is what I feel most of the time. 

I am not trying to show off or anything but... it might seem that way.. Some how.. bleh... but look at it at a different perspective. I get annoyed when people compliment me and adds a little "I wish I was a bit more like you" in the end. Hello, f*ck off and live your own life. Okay no, that was too mean. But you know what I mean. Hopefully.

16-Nov-15 | Ich bin wieder hier.. Hallo Regensburg

Lunch kidnapped and was blackmailed

PG and me!

I know the caption I put on this day looks funny but #truestorybro. There was some sort of employee appreciation/drive going on around on Friday and during lunch, on the way out to lunch. A girl came up to us and ask us to take a picture "it will just take a minute, don't worry, I'll take care of your lunchbox. Here, give it to me" *subconsciously loosen my grip on my lunchbox while she took it away*. So damn paiseh wanna stand in front of the camera while the other employees are walking by off to lunch. Luckily, we did, because we got this printout! I didn't know they were going to print it out. Okay, maybe my lunchbox being kidnapped isn't a bad thing after all.  

Clay Art | Malaysia Clay Art Review & My First Polymer Clay, BMO!

I have decided to pick up another hobby. As if crocheting, knitting, cross-stitching, needle felting, felting is not enough... Well, it isn't for me! Why did I suddenly decided to play with clay art? Well, my main motivation was to make small details to complement my amigurumi. E.g. Swords and staffs, any items that should be sturdy! Not flimsy or bendable. 

I have been researching here and there (apparently not enough though), wanted to buy PREMO or FIMO polymer clay but these things don't come cheap and apparently, it is quite hard to find in Singapore and Malaysia. And then I encountered Malaysia Clay Art's website. Oh, happy me! 

10-Nov-15 | #CatAGary, Sangkaya, Adventure Time

It's #CatAGary's Day!

I had to screenshot this from Ann's instagram, because I don't have any pictures with the newly weds in my phone. Derp

First of all, Congrats to Catrina and Gary! 

It's a long weekend cause it's Deepavali today so I had my free Saturday to Tuesday. And it's back to work tomorrow, so sad. I think I'm catching the Wednesday blue, whatever that is. Went straight back to my hometown, Teluk Intan on Friday night, therefore reaching there in the wee hours of the next morning. Then, the food galore began. Seriously, every single time I am back there, I am like being sucked by this black hole of yummylicious food. My boyfriend going back with me doesn't help one bit at all, because he was craving for a lot of foods as well. Oh, the curse of a food hunter.

Plus, don't forget the 8-course dinner Chinese wedding have... Why does Chinese food must always be so unhealthy and yummy?  

1-Nov-15 | The Pantry, Alaturka & Halloween

Finally, I can haz cakes.


At last, some cafe hunting this weekend. Visited Haji Lane with Ah Choy and Jason in search of some hipster cafes. Definitely a really "happening" lane. Reminded us of Penang as well, the heritage street I mean. So, we decided to visit The Pantry.

recycling my instagram photo

 The Pantry at Shop Wonderland

This small cafe shop is a bit tricky to find as the sign outside only says "Wonderland". It seems like they have two shops in the building. But I'm not sure what the other one is about, but I think it's something to do with flowers because the place is covered with them. Overall, the ambiance is really homely and cozy, the cake is really good especially the one with strawberry (yum yum, but I do not know the exact name, I wasn't the one who ordered it) and they used pure dried flowers in our tea, not the teabag kind! I wonder if they made it themselves.

26-Oct-15 | Shopaholic instinct

What I see in my daily life

Seriously this is what I see every day. Whenever I am in the MRT or bus, everyone is constantly on their phone, playing games, facebook, instagram, and etc. Well, I don't blame them. It's better to do something rather than just sit there and wait right?? I am also doing the same thing too (like finding recipes to cook or some arts and crafts inspiration). But I try to do something else rather than sticking my nose to my mobile phone's screen. I tried bringing my crochet tools and also my cross stitching materials with me so that at least when I am travelling to work alone, I have something to do. When travelling with friends of course, we would talk most of the time. When travelling with boipren I don't bring my materials out so we always play around with my phone but occasionally when we found something funny on 9gag (him) or Tumblr/DeviantArt/Pinterest (me), we will share it with each other. Not sure if it's healthy or not. But.. yeah.. That's how it is. 

20/10/15 | Cooking again, Law of Attraction

My attempt in making Jap food, Ochazuke, Salmon and Shimeji with butter sauce

If you're following me on Instagram or Facebook, you'll notice that I'm re-posting pictures on my blog. But whatever, I don't really have much pictures to upload anyway. If you've never heard of Ochazuke, you'll probably want to try it out. Pretty simple to make, the ingredients are readily available in supermarkets (rice crackers, salmon, instant jap seasoning powder which has seaweed, sesame seed and seasoning in it). You'll probably want to eat it with short-grained rice (yum yum). I also tried to re-create the grilled mushroom which I order almost every time when I patronize Sushi Zanmai. I failed miserably. It seems like I was missing some ingredient because it just didn't taste as good as the ones they make. I wonder if I'm missing something.... Maybe some mirin will help, will try next time. 

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | Berlin

7/10/15 | Graduate photo, Aiden's Birthday

Of course, it is....

I'm typing this in the office.. and I am a little nervous because I'm afraid that my other colleagues will come swooping in and check out what I have on my laptop screen... Lol. Oh well.. I have to make this a quick one. 

So, for the past week and also this one, I have been surviving on a very old XiaoMi phone (as my iPhone is still... broken), and my office laptop has restrictions on it.. And I don't have a laptop bag yet, so I am lazy to bring it home. So, now I have to do this in the office. Fellow colleagues, if somehow you are reading this, please don't report me. Thank you. 

Of course, it is mandatory to go for a photo-shooting session with Die Familie with my graduation coat on. I don't know why, but everyone does it. At least the Asian family does. Then when we are done, we print out a great big picture to hang on the wall. 

Although, we looked overly-photoshop-ed.... I don't even know if is it me in the photos. 

Amigurumi Pattern | Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura

Materials

2.75mm hook (or any hook size that suits your yarn)

Minlon acrylic yarn (or any sport yarn)

#gold
#white

Felt cloth

#light yellow

Black embroidery thread

Embroidery needle

Wire/Pipe cleaner

Fabric glue

Amigurumi Pattern | Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura

Materials

2.75mm hook (or any hook size that suits your yarn)

Minlon acrylic yarn (or any sport yarn)

#gold
#white

Felt cloth

#light yellow

Black embroidery thread

Embroidery needle

Wire/Pipe cleaner

Fabric glue

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | 3 days in Amsterdam

21/9/15 | Trust me, I am an Engineer... who crochets

Finally I have done it.

random granny squares as strap

Yes, I have had my ukulele for a few years now and it has always been kept inside the original box that came with it, which is actually a not very nice one. My uke was a birthday gift from my boyfriend for my 20th birthday (year 2012). I have always wanted to buy a case for him (him as in my ukulele), but always failed to do so because 1) the cases that I found are usually ugly, like the simple black flimsy case, and 2) they are f*cking expensive. After waiting for 3 years, I decided to bestow upon him a cozy home. I know the color combination is a little weird and doesn't match at all, but I have a lot of yarns that I don't really use in my amigurumi projects (plus they are the higher quality ones). 

I never realized that I have quite a collection of yarns at home. I actually have a blanket project that I haven't finished yet therefore I have a few more chunks of big thick yarn balls. It's taking me forever and it is a knitted blanket prokect. Self-explanatory as to why it is taking me forever to finish. I think crocheting is definitely faster than knitting, but that's just me. 

Anyway, regarding this blog post title. Yes, I am officially a bona fide engineer.. in title. Although I haven't really work as one yet. So, this is me trying to tell everyone I have finally found a job in Singapore. I'll be starting work soon this month end as a software engineer. I hope I will do well in my work. I won't give too much details as I don't want any stalkers to wait for me in front of my workplace. 

Well, yeah.. this is a very short post. I feel like I haven't have much time lately. Things has been progressing so fast. I still have a lot of things I want to do but it seems like it's pretty hard for me to continue on. But I hope I will continue to do what I like the most and not let a "job" interfere with what I want. Even if it will take a longer time for me to achieve it but at least it is better than not doing it. Here's to the dreamers.

Amigurumi Pattern | Mokona Modoki from Tsubasa Chronicle

Hi there! I'm here again to write another amigurumi pattern (I'm on a roll!). Though I think this is a very simple pattern so it won't take long do make these two little critters. Yay, for anime! 

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | 1 Day in Bruges

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | Brussels in 1 Day

13/9/15 | Convocation, meet-ups, and some very random stuff

Behold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The diamond-shaped hat (idk what it's called in formal English) has been bestowed upon me! 

Finally, I have graduated from my degree. Five years. It took FIVE years! 

My three course-mates from Computer Engineering: Zi Yik, Yik Shu and Josh.
Can't survive through my 3 major years without them. 

Amigurumi Pattern | Winnie The Pooh

Materials

2.75mm hook (or any hook size that suits your yarn)

Minlon acrylic yarn (or any sport yarn)

#yellow
#red

Black embroidery thread

Embroidery needle

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | Paris 4-days Itinerary

Hello hello! This will be my first official Europe trip itinerary post. I will highlight some important tips and tricks to get the best out of Paris! Just keep an eye out for highlighted texts like this if you're bored of me talking about what we did. I am trying my best to organize things in this post, hopefully it's easy to understand! 

Lego! 

28 days in Europe, 12 cities for under 1500€!

Yes, it can be done! But first of all, please note that 1500€ is for train tickets between cities and also hotel/hostel accommodation only. This amount is excluding flight tickets, how you spent on food and also attraction fees. Since flight tickets prices are very different (where & when) and also different people have different styles of spending. Maybe you want to spend more on luxurious food or you want to skip all the museums, so it is not very accurate to include these into the budget count. 

Me, my mother, and my boyfriend have traveled around Europe from 10th July till 7th August (so that makes it 28 days). It was summer then, so it was more like a "touristy season". I booked our train tickets and accommodations 3 months before the real trip. Therefore, saving a lot on train tickets. I've mostly booked hotels (triple room) as we are travelling in a group of 3. I find it cheaper to book hotel rather than hostels plus we have the luxury of having our own private bathroom most of the time. 

What to do when you lost your passport during an overseas travel?

... Only gamers understand this reference ... If you don't then you are no true gamer ...

First of all, in my opinion.. The best thing to do... is to prevent it. Take care of your stuff people!! Before it is too late!!!

I was travelling around Europe for the last month and when I was travelling from Nice to Barcelona, it happened. We had to stop in Montpellier (an interchange station) before we can proceed to Spain. Everything happened there. On that day, our train was delayed for an hour and a half. Not only ours actually, almost all the trains were delayed because of the some railway track faults. 

My mistake was that I put down my backpack behind my boyfriend's back, which was out of our line of sight. We then sat down and proceed to do something else. We kept looking at the display for any updates on the train status and also at our phones. And then when it's time to get up, I realize my bag was gone. 

Guys, I hope you can learn a lesson from my mistake. Make sure to put your belongings where you can see them especially when you are out in a public area. Nobody will take care of them except you. 

If however, you are a klutz like me despite the countless warnings your parents has given to you, well here comes the more formal to-do steps to make sure your travel can continue. 

1/9/15 | Back in Malaysia

Ticket back

Hi and hello my rusty blog. It feels like I haven't write in since forever. If you think I'm going to post all my pictures from my Europe trip to show off then you are correct but not now. Not in this post. Let me make you feel envious soon but not today. 

During my trip, I did encounter some problem and I became a victim of crime while in France. If you are like me with the "Oh-it-wont-happened-to-me" attitude, well, you're so wrong. They strike when you don't expect them to. Long story short, make sure your bag is with you all the time and make sure you eye them even when you are taking a break or resting... especially in crowded areas. If you think it won't happen because there's too many people, then you are wrong again. In the end, I learnt my lesson but I had to trade in my passport, IC, driving license, debit cards, laptop, my 21st-birthday necklace gift from my mother, polaroid camera, my make-up (my new bb cream that costed me a lot), my toiletries (also some new stuff that I bought), my time, my trip to Barcelona and a few hundred Euros for burnt train tickets and also to buy new ones. Yeap.... .... ... well, you can never be too careful.